We're celebrating UNESCO World Heritage status….

We can now count the Lake District alongside the Taj Mahal, the Tower of London and the Great Barrier Reef. Thank you to everyone who has supported us on the journey so far. Read our Blog articles and discover what makes our beautiful landscape so special. Would you like to contribute to the blog? Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you, contact us

It feels like the Lake District is riding on the crest of the wave and this is great news for culture and our visitors. March was a magnificent month for our wonderful region - and especially successful for the arts.

His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, has been confirmed as the guest of honour at a special community event to mark the Lake District as a World Heritage Site on 26 March. The Prince of Wales will attend the event at Crow Park, Keswick, and unveil the official UNESCO plaque to mark the designation.

We were given the exciting opportunity to spread the word that the Lake District is now a World Heritage Site to millions of people across the UK in September. Thanks to Royal Mail all stamped post sent on 28 September had the greeting 'Celebrating the Lake District World Heritage Site #WeAreTheLakes'.

It’s official - the Lake District National Park has been granted World Heritage Site status. So to celebrate, this summer we're inviting visitors to Cumbria's shows and festivals to join us on a free 360 virtual tour of this iconic cultural landscape. First up, the BirdHIVE experience returns to Kendal Calling in Lowther Deer Park, 28 - 30 July, with brand new 360 VR Lake District scenes.

William Wordsworth, in The Prelude, describes how the natural world of the Lake District meant so much to him from early childhood and how essential nature is to the human soul. The Lake District is still an area where there are many special places for nature and wildlife managed for the intrinsic value of their biodiversity and geology, for the benefits they provide and for the pleasure they bring to locals and visitors alike.

Brockhole, the Lake District Visitor Centre will host an exclusive World Heritage interactive exhibition wall from Easter onwards, leading up to the announcement of potential inscription as a World Heritage site in the summer.

Although the beauty and the scenic landscapes of the Lake District have inspired several writers over the centuries, the one that has become synonymous with the National Park is William Wordsworth, one of the country’s best-loved poets.
World Heritage Blog post courtesy of holidaycottages.co.uk

This year we’ve been celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter, the world famous author, illustrator, farmer and supporter of the National Trust.
To bring the year to a fitting close, we are delighted to announce the launch of the National Trust Beatrix Potter Awards.

Last week we completed a major milestone in the Lake District’s nomination to be a World Heritage Site, with two expert assessors from UNESCO’s cultural heritage advisory body visiting us. It was a near impossible task to do this wonderful place justice in just a week, but the Lake District National Park, together with a range of organisations from the partnership, pulled together a fantastic programme showcasing three key themes of the bid: identity, inspiration and conservation.

The Lake District National Park Partnership is celebrating this week after its ‘Evolving Masterpiece’ communications campaign for UNESCO World Heritage status was named as a finalist in the Northern Marketing Awards 2016.

The dramatic Lakeland peaks, lakes and landscapes have been providing creative inspiration for generations and Lakes Culture has continued to seek out the talent in recent years too, with a series of stunning artworks that captivate imaginations across the county.

From today (26 August 2016), fans of the Lake District National Park will be able to soar like a bird, scale a mountain and ripple across the top of a lake – within just three minutes, by experiencing BirdHIVE – a 360 degree virtual flight tour of the iconic Lake District.

Euston Station welcomed ‘a host of golden daffodils’ earlier today, as part of a new campaign to encourage the public to see the Lake District as ‘Wordsworth Country’ once again.
The Wordsworth Trust wants to get ‘Wordsworth Country’ back in the popular imagination, and raise awareness of the many sites of natural beauty that helped inspire the writer whose works have helped to draw visitors to the region which he described as “the loveliest spot that man hath ever found”.

Jane Watson, Marketing & Communications for BP150 Project, National Trust tells us all about her work for the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter, just one of the writers inspired by our beautiful, World Heritage nominated cultural landscape...

We’re looking forward to launching Bird HIVE, a 360 degree virtual flight tour of the iconic Lake District, at Kendal Calling and Lakes Alive festivals this summer in support of the World Heritage bid. Festival goers are being given the chance to soar like a bird, scale a mountain and ripple across the top of a lake, within just three minutes, taking a bird’s eye view of four iconic Lake District locations.

Lake District festival goers are being given the chance to soar like a bird, scale a mountain and ripple across the top of a lake – within just three minutes, by experiencing Bird HIVE – a 360 degree virtual flight tour of the iconic Lake District.
Bird HIVE is an innovative, interactive virtual reality experience showcased at Kendal Calling and Lakes Alive festivals this summer in celebration of the Lake District National Park bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.

London is unshockable. So when two young women and a 9 year old girl, dressed in white long-johns and red shorts started wrestling on the lawn opposite Big Ben, the reaction was curiosity rather than surprise.
The wrestlers were Tracy, Connie and Rosie Hodgson from Dent who gamely agreed to the capital day out to promote Ambleside Sports, the new women’s world championship in Cumberland wrestling which will be staged there in July.

This year’s Keswick Mountain Festival (Friday May 20) will mark the start of a rally call to all who love the region to unite in their support for the Lake District World Heritage bid by declaring ‘I’ve herd’.

Photographer and Writer team Rob and Harriet Fraser have chosen seven spectacularly located trees across Cumbria for a two-year project called The Long View. They are recording their walks to these trees through photography and writing, and are leading a public walk to each of the trees through the summer and autumn of 2016. Find out how you can get involved.

TV Chef Peter Sidwell has officially 'backed the bid' and has joined the campaign for the Lake District to become a UNESCO World Heritage site. The team here asked Peter to share with us how he has been inspired by the beautiful surroundings and he certainly didn't disappoint...

Herdy, the iconic Lake District sheep brand has joined a growing list of organisations to state their support for the Lake District's quest for World Heritage status, becoming the lead commercial collaboration partner and creating a unique ‘United by Herdy’ logo for the bid campaign. The friendly face of Herdy will now be used to encourage visitors, residents and everyone who loves the Lake District to unite in their pride and back the bid.

Children from schools across South Lakeland have been celebrating as their attempt to write the World’s Longest Letter rolls in at a whopping 290 metres in length – as high as the smallest Wainwright fell, Castle Crag!

TV Chef Peter Sidwell has officially 'backed the bid' and become the latest supporter to join the campaign for the Lake District to become a UNESCO World Heritage site. The team here asked Peter to share with us how he has been inspired by the beautiful surroundings and he certainly didn't disappoint...

Residents and visitors to Cumbria are being called up to write a message of support for the region’s UNESCO World Heritage Bid by visiting Brockhole -the Lake District Visitor Centre - and in the process boost the attempt to write the World’s Longest Letter.

The Lake District is a cultural landscape that has inspired generations of artists, writers, industrialists, entrepreneurs and farmers to shape the world around them. It is continually changing as communities, visitors and businesses blend together to create an evolving masterpiece.